Zero Conclusions
by Zero4
Summary: The Gundam guy recieve notes about their supposedly destroyed Gundams after the war...what could this mysterious new girl have to do with that? action, drama, and a little romance later on.
1. The Summoning of the Heroes

Zero Conclusions:  
A Gundam Story  
Chapter one: "The Summoning of the Heroes"  
  
Fanfiction by Heather Ann, the Kachan.  
*I like red and I like blue, I no own Gundam, so you no sue*  
  
  
  
In the Year After Colony 198, war had silenced once again for over a year...and mobile suits, including the Gundams, were have thought to be no longer needed. Where there is a waltz, there are three steps, but what happends if the song ends? What beat must be played again?  
Heero Yui walks alone through the streets of New York City. He really didn't appriciate being there. He had received an annonymous note telling him to meet a "someone" here, and it conserned his Gundam. As soon as Heero read the note, he had feared for the worst. Because he knew from his last battle with Mariemaia and Dekim, that his Gundam was too gone for repair...that is, unless someone had decided to repair it. The noisy, busy city clouded his thoughts. It was hard for him to focus on his objective. The note said that this "someone" was going to find him. It was usually next to impossible to find Heero Yui, so Heero took that as a direct threat to himself. He didn't want to kill again. Killing would lead into another battle. That was is biggest fear. That was ironic, coming from the "perfect soldier", however, since the war, Heero had grown out of being that "perfect soldier"...not that his personality had changed much from that.  
"HEERO!!!!!"  
A strong, shrilling voice ripped through the crowd, and hit to Heero's ears like an arrow making its mark. Heero turned to find Relena rushing towards him. He half smiled when seeing her. It had been a month since he last checked on her...three since he actually talked to her. He didn't want to smile too much, making her think that he had changed...but he didn't want to not smile at all, making her believe that he hadn't changed. The feeling of not belonging in the world had taken its toll on Heero, but he refused to allow Relena to see it.  
"Heero, its been so long!" She cheerfully called to him.  
Relena wanted to hug Heero so deeply, but she didn't know if he'd react the wrong way. So she decided not to. "I can see that you're doing okay." She observed.  
Heero nodded. He had been doing a bit better since the wars. He had to get up and move on. He finally got rid of the extra tight shorts he always wore (sorry ladies), and wore more delicate shirts than his usual tanktop.  
"Relena..." He whispered.  
Relena hadn't changed too much. She had just grown a little more, and filled out more of her expencive clothing. That was enough for Heero to notice. She wore her hair more fancily, and expensive too.  
"Heero, I...hate missing you all the time..." Relena looked down as if she were confessing her deepest secret, "Being Vice Foreign Minister, I would like a body guard I know I can trust. I trust you, Heero."  
Heero looked down. He wanted to instantly say "YES!". However, with the note he had just received, he didn't feel obligated to abandon the earth for one person-even if that person was Relena.  
"Let me think about it..." He finally replied.  
The wind seemed to brush his hair as he thought with the guilt in his heart. He wanted to take up that job so bad...  
"WAAAAASSSSSSSAAAAAAPPPPPPPPP?????"  
A rather loud, familiar voice shattered the romantic vibrations in the air, as Duo Maxwell arrived to the scene. Relena stepped back slightly as Duo wrapped his arms around both the necks of Heero and Relena.   
"Duo?" Relena asked, feeling a little lost.  
"You know me, gotta make my enterance!" Duo cheered as he released the couple from his grip of death.  
Duo too had grown a little. However, his hair was still in that long brown pony tail...and yes, he still had that black leather outfit from the last war.  
"Duo, I thought you hated earth?" Heero asked firmly, starting to put a puzzle together.  
"Yea, Well," Duo hesitantly replied, "I got an annonymous email telling me that I had to meet somebody here...who'da guessed I'd find you?"  
Heero froze. That did not sound good. Duo got a note too? Did that mean... Wait, why didn't Duo say anything about his Gundam? Heero looked at Duo somewhat suspiciously.  
"Are any of the others making a special appearance?" Heero asked.  
"Yea," Duo replied, "I thought I saw Wufei on the other side of town..."  
"Damn." Heero looked down. It was his fear.  
"Hey does that mean?" Duo put the pieces together. He knew what Heero was thinking and he didn't like it one bit. "Does somebody want to start another war?"  
Spontaneously, the very second that Duo had said the word "war", and explosion could be heard overhead. The trio of friends looked up and their concerned faces faded into pure shock.  
"Oh my God!" Relena cried  
"It just can't be!" Duo said without thinking.  
Heero just gaped his mouth open as he found himself starring at Deathscythe Hell Custom in New York City! The Gundam was openingly attacking the Universe Nations building. Civillians on the street scatter in every direction away from the mobile suit.  
"That's impossible!" Duo thought aloud, "Who could have found it?!"  
" 'Found it'?" Heero mocked as he glared over in Duo's direction. "Didn't you self-destruct your Gundam like everyone else?"  
"Well...That's not important right now!" Duo yelled looked away and then came up with an idea, "I have a separate self-detonate switch right here!"  
Duo started to dig in his pocket. He came up with nothing. He tried the other one and only found his wallet.  
"Oh crap!" He realized, "I must've left it in my other pair of pants back at my hotel! I'll be right back!"  
Heero watched as Duo fled like a bat out of hell...literally. He then looked at Relena. This was no place for her. He picked her up and started pushing through the panicing crowd to her limosine. Relena held on tight, liking that sensation of having Heero carry her too much.   
"I guess you're considering that job offer?" She asked with a smile.  
"Maybe" Heero replied, as stoic as possible. Mission Failure. "I do it enough already."  
  
A figure tapps at the contols of Deathscythe. She laughs to herself as she lookes at the crumbling building on the Gundam's vid-screen.  
"Die." She passionately whispers, "Die because there is no tomarrow."  
Suddenly something shoot Hell in the back as it lunges forward. The mysterious pilot smacks her face against the side of the control pannel. She covers her eye in anger as blood dripps onto her hand and hair blocks the view of her face. The line where the blood trailed left a permanent scar down her face.  
Deathscythe Hell Custom turns to see what bold machine could shoot it in the back. It was none other than Nataku, and its pilot of justice, Wufei.  
"As long as I sense injustice in the world, Nataku and I will be there to stop its rampage to destroy peace!" He yells from his Gundam.  
  
On the street, Heero examins the two Gundams. By the movements, Nataku was definitely piloted by Wufei. But who was the other pilot? It didn't match any pilot he knew...except maybe himself.  
  
Deathscythe Hell now faced its opponent. It recovered from its warning hit in the back and stood itself in a fighting position. It was waiting for Nataku to give the next move.  
"Nothing to say, coward?" Wufei taunted to the annonymous pilot, "Come on, coward! I'm giving you the first move. Take it or I'll do it for you."  
Deathscythe dare not moved. It patiently welcomed Nataku's attack. It was a long pause (for Wufei) of thirty seconds before Nataku finally charged. Deathscythe anticipated this and side-stepped out of the way. The mobile suit disappeared from sight as Nataku swipped air. Wufei stopped patiently and looked all around him.  
"Hey, coward! Have you no pride to finish your own battle?" Wufei called.  
Wufei got his wish. As soon as he finished the sentence, Deathscythe's blade was rapidly impacting with Nataku's armor in several quick swipes. The thermal weapon did quite a bit of damage, but Nataku was still potientially dangerous. No way was Wufei ready to give up. Deathscythe backed up a little to recover from its powerful attack. Nataku stepped closer to Deathscythe.  
"Wufei," Heero called from the ground into a radio, "don't get so close. Close range and speed is Deathscythe's specialty."  
"Baka, I know what I'm doing!" Wufei replied somewhat arrogantly.  
Nataku held up one of its dragon claws and sent it directly at Deathscythe. Deathscythe easily dodged the obvious attack, but was then knocked over by the claw coming from the other arm. Deathscythe struggled to its feet. Nataku wound the claws back to their attachments on their arms and whipped out its trident. Deathscythe followed in suite and charged with its scythe in front, not leaving any vulnerable spots to attack. The trident and the scythe clashed and sparks exceded everywhere.  
The annonymous pilot in Deathscythe was breathing quite heavily. "I've had enough," She said aloud, "All this energy is being wasted on a fight between allys. Besides, its increasing the number of casualties." The pilot reached over to a somewhat unnoticable button on Deathscythe's control pannel. "I know it's a cheap victory winning like this, but I have to stop this now." The figure pushed the button.  
The button caused all of the power in Nataku start to fade. From the flame to the trident, to all of the operating systems in general, Nataku was powering down.  
"KISAMA! WHAT'S GOING ON???!!!" Wufei cursed, pushing buttons fiercely.  
It did no good. Nataku was an im-mobile suit, now. Just to be sure, Deathscythe made short work of its claws by slicing at the arms . Each arm fell to the earth, one still holding the double-ended trident that it whielded. With that, Deathscythe new pilot had completed its mission: to destroy a building, and to give out five messages... Deathscythe began to walk away from the disabled Nataku.  
  
Duo, casually late, runs next to Heero, still watching on the street. Duo was still panting from his sprint from his hotel and back.  
"Its about time." Heero commented, "Did you get it?" Referring to Deathscythe's self-detonate device.  
Duo smiled and pulled it out of his pocket, showing it to Heero.  
"Quick, use it, while its over the empty Central Park." Heero commanded him.  
Duo sighed and looked at Deathscythe with a half-smile.  
"Austa la vista, baby." He mumbles as he hits the button.   
Deathscythe illuminates a bright burst of light as Gundanium pieces rain upon Central Park. Several animals in the zoo hide in their artificial homes as the pieces collide with the earth, embedding it with holes. The boys ran into the forest of trees: broken and whole only to find scrap metal everywhere.  
The began to dig as Wufei, having left his Gundam, joined them to find this pilot. Wufei wasn't dressed in his Perventer's Uniform. It was his traditional Mao suit. And right now, he didn't care about getting it dirty. His hair had grown an inch. Other than that, he didn't seem to have changed a bit since the last war, either.  
They didn't know who staged these actions, but if they found that person, then that person would get a serious ass beeting. Especially by Duo and Wufei. The silence of hard work was soon disrupted by Duo, doing what he loves to do when depressed, bitch.  
"Awwww...Now I have to build this damn thing again!" He muttered after kicking a small piece of Gundanium.  
"I thought we ALL decided to destroy the Gundams in this time of peace..." Herro snapped at the guilty looking Duo, then at the defiant Wufei, "And I thought that the Perventers would keep you busy..."  
"They did." Wufei blankly replied, not taking the comment as insult, "But I received a grant to rebuild it incase such a fire, like now, had started again."  
"And your excuse?" Heero looked at the now depressed Duo.  
"I was bored." He quickly replied, almost sounding like he actually didn't want to talk about it.  
"That's it?" Wufei asked it confusion, "What about the Sweepers? What about Hilde?"  
"We split up..." Duo mumbled.  
"What?" Wufei asked, somewhat surprised.  
"She lost her virginity." Duo explained, as he sat down to rest on a large piece of his mobile suit.  
"What so wrong about that?" Heero asked, pausing his search too examine Duo. It was a rare, scarry thing to see Duo in this condition.  
"I didn't..." Duo barely made out.  
"Owch..." Heero and Wufei said in unison. That almost made Duo cheer up again. It was rare that two guys who barely say anything at all, speak up at the same exact time.   
Duo got up again and continued his search for the injured or dead pilot. He could hear Wufei grumbling to himself. He was ranting about what he would do to the person that so cheaply defeated him. Duo didn't want to explain how exactly the pilot did it, but he knew he'd have to tell Wufei one of these days. Suddenly, Wufei spoke up,  
"Hey! There he is! Kisama, Get back here!" He called beginning to make tracks down, across the streets and into the alleys.  
Heero and Duo were right behind him. The trio of pilots easily catch up with the pilot at the speed "he" was running. How can he still run, thought Heero, It took me a month to recover from self-destructing... The fugitive was growing tired, fast, and was no match to any of the trained assassins. The pilot then ran into a busy street, stopping dead in the tracks of an on-coming supply truck. It was better to be destroyed quickly, than by the three of them.  
"He's trying to kill himself!" Observed Duo, the farthest away from the pilot.  
Wufei, the closest, ran into traffic after the pilot, and slammed himself and the pilot into the pavement so that the supply truck would pass over head. The pair lie there, as the roar of a giant demon seemed to pass by not even acknowledging their existence. Wufei's arm lay on top of a layer of long brown hair...that scent...A WOMAN???!!!!!  
The truck finally passed by and the two jumped to their feet instantly. Wufei guided her out of the street. He sensed her moving to run away again, but it was stopped by him grabbing a fist full of brown strands of her hair. That kept her in place...and swearing.  
"Konnechiwa, Onna!" Wufei sarcasticly greeted, "And where in the galaxy do you think you're going?"  
"Anywhere but here..." She replied, and commenced her cries of pain.  
Wufei dragged the girl over to Heero and Duo into the alley, out of sight.  
"Nice job, Wufei." Heero said as he examined the girl.  
"So, this is the babe that stole Deathscythe..." Duo smiled as he lifted the face of the girl up.  
Underneath the strands of long, dark brown hair, was a young, caucasion face. Her eyes were brown with a greenish-hazel tint, that were blank of emotion. Her face was full of clarity, determination, and sort of smiling. Down her right eye, was a trail of blood leading down her cheek, where she had smacked her face into the control panel at the beginning of the fight.  
"Damn," commented Duo, liking what he saw, "That'll scar."  
"No thanks to Wu-chan." She joked, smiling brightly.   
Duo laughed when she used his pet name. That laughed lasted a microsecond when Wufei's hand reacted and yanked the girl's hair back.  
"What did you say?" Wufei demanded.  
The girl shrilled in pain and began to cuss in every language that she knew so that he would see how pissed she was. It didn't work. So she just continued her screaming of "ow's" and "What the hell was that for?" and added swearing inbetween.  
"Knock it off," Heero commanded, "We won't get answers that way."  
Wufei agreed and let go of his grip on the girl's hair. Instead, he pushed her against the side of the ally building. The girl tripped over one of her feet and landed into the pavement. She cursed softly and struggled to get on her feet. Duo moved to help her, but he was blocked by Heero's arm, signaling him to stay put. The girl, now covered in blood, AND dirt, faced the boys and taunted them,  
"For a man of justice, Chang Wufei, you certainly are rude towards stranger."  
"How the hell do you know my name?" Wufei quickly demanded.  
The girl smiled and leaned against the side of the brick wall. She was breathing deeply and was barely able to stay concious.  
"I know all of your names...Duo Maxwell...Heero Yui...Quatre and Trowa should be here soon...I can feel Quatre's concern a mile away..." She smiled genlty and shut her eyes.  
The boys looked at eachother. The girl was ready to pass out, and they're waiting for her to kill them all. They didn't want to underestimate her, so they stayed put.   
"Unreal..." Duo muttered, "So what's your name?"  
The girl opened her eyes, looking at all three boys.  
"They call me...Zero..."  



	2. Searching for Dust

Zero Conclusions:  
A Gundam Wing story  
Part two "Searching for Dust"  
  
Fanfiction by Heather Ann the Kachan  
  
  
"They call me Zero..."  
The girl gasped. Duo couldn't help it anymore. He pushed Heero's arm aside and ran to her side. He wrapped an arm around her to hold her up. If he didn't, he feared that the girl would surely die on her feet. Heero focused his eyes on her behavior. He didn't seem to show any signs of pity towards the girl. Electic waves through her eyelashes could be seen in the dark alley.  
"Zero?" Heero asked, "Are you one of us?"  
Zero was too far gone to comprehend. She sluped to her knees in exaust.  
"Yes, she is." Another voice answered. Wufei and Heero turned around and faced Trowa and Quatre...slightly older verions. Trowa continued, "Quatre will explain later, but we must get her to lie down for a bit."  
"Zero!" Quarte ran over to the fading Zero. "Its okay, you'll be alright."  
"...I...know..." She whispered back...to no one in perticuar...  
  
The five pilots, now reunited, had a "meeting" in Quatre's hotel room. They tossed the unconsious Zero on the sofa after Quatre so delicately tended her injuries. They sat around a dinner table drinking soda, like Aurthur's knights in a court and tried to put pieces of this puzzle together.  
"Are you sure that idiotic woman isn't dead?" Asked Wufei, peering at the carcass still sleeping.   
"No," laughed Quatre, "She's just restoring energy. You've certainly taken a lot out of her. Especially self-destructing Deathscythe while she was still in it."  
"Hey!" Duo corrected, "Heero told me to do it!"  
"Calm down, Maxwell, You did the right thing. Now we can figure out why this menace of an onna exsists." Wufei reassured.  
"Quatre, perhaps you should explain for the others why she is still alive in the first place." Trowa suggested to Quatre, who was keeping an eye on Zero.  
"Well," He started, "She's just like us...but completely different. Like most of us, she was born a soldier, trained to kill ruthlessly. But on the other hand, she has neural implants of ZERO technology..."  
"What?!" Duo inturrupted, "ZERO technology in her head? Wouldn't that make her go insane?!"  
"She, being a woman, would have had a psychotic episode years ago." Wufei commented.  
"True," Heero concluded, "She has emotions. Only perfect soldiers with no emotions can control that type of technology."  
"Yes," Quatre added, "But because the technology was with her durring her state of birth, she seems to have complete control over it. She can turn it on or off whenever she wants. So instead of being trained physically or academically, she was trained empathicly."  
"Therefore, she can sense emotions." Trowa translated for Duo, who looked a little lost.  
"...most of them..." corrected Quatre, now turning a bit red.   
All of the other pilots gave Quatre a skeptical look. Quatre in love? Could there be such a disturbingly cute thing? Duo chuckled at him as asked,  
"Okay, lover boy, how did you get to meet our beloved Zero?"  
Quatre, now turning deeper shades of red, knew the only way to respond...honestly...and promptly.  
"Umm...well...we..." He paused, took a deep breath, and started again...now almost cursing himself for the comment that Duo just made, "Okay, when I started to work on the ZERO system, she was assigned to assist me. The scientists had origionally quit the ZERO project because of its affect on people, however, it was because they were testing it on people. Zero, was the only survivor. Anyway, she helped me develop and test Wing Zero. She was more natural at it, and I guess I got a little jealous. She could control the hallucinations and I couldn't... And that was the last straw on the camel's back. That's when I was obsessed with developing the ZERO technology. However, when I got to the major and final plans of the system, I got a note, saying that she had already left for another mission."  
"That's it?" Asked Heero, looking deep in thought...and concerned.  
"Oh no.." Duo muttered, knowing that look Heero had. That frightend him a bit. "What is it Heero?"  
"That girl is still on a mission." He explained, "She's probably trying to keep us from something...distracting us...blowing time..."  
All was silent for a minute. Each pilot thought deeply. What could they have to protect....  
"KISAMA!!!!" Wufei finally screamed, "NATAKU!" He jumped out of the chair and rushed out the door, almost knocking Duo over. It was then, when Duo realized,   
"DEATHSCYTHE!!!! I left all of those parts in the park!"  
Duo quickly ran after Wufei, as if he didn't have enough exercise earlier that day. Quatre quickly turned his head to wake and question Zero. He looked back over to the sofa to find it empty. Heero was not surprised one bit.  
"So now what do we do?" Asked Trowa, looking at the two remaining pilots. Heero looked rather nervous, for Heero. Quatre looked his usual worrisome self. He further analized the situation, "Zero has possession of at least two Gundams... No doubt, all five by now. All she needed were the last two and we brought them right to her. Now what does she want with us?"  
"She must be destroyed." Concluded Heero, eye-ing at the empty sofa.   
"Zero can be a kind civilian like ourselves," Quatre spoke on Zero's behalf. "She has priorities, though. Whatever mission she is carrying out, we should listen to first."  
"Fine." Heero agreed, "We'll hear what she has to say...let's just hope that Wufei and Duo don't find her and kill her before doing so..."  
  
"SHIMATTA!!!" Wufei screamed in frustration.  
Sure enough when the pair went to find their wreckage of Gundam parts, they found the whole place clean. Not a single piece of Gundanium lay in New York City. It was all long gone by now, and there was no trace of someone taking it. Not that they were surprised that their would be. After all, New York is the most populated city in the United States to date.  
"This really sucks." Duo muttered as he walked beside Wufei on the walk back to the hotel.   
"Stupid woman isn't so stupid afterall... she kept us away long enough for whoever to take our mobile suits." Wufei grumbled.  
Duo chuckled and looked at Wufei with a slight smile.  
"I wouldn't say that she was stupid...she kicked your butt in my Gundam, afterall."  
Wufei felt that burn. With an annoyed tone in his voice, he replied,  
"I was fighting perfectly well. She would have been defeated if Nataku's controls didn't freeze. I wonder what happened then, anyway. They weren't overheated or anything..."  
Wufei paused to listen to Duo's not-so-innocent whistle as he looked away.  
"What did you do?" Wufei demanded. Duo feared for his life and refused to answer. He immediately held his braid in defense away from Wufei. Wufei, not liking this response, grabbed Duo's shoulder and held onto a pressure point. Duo screetched in pain,  
"OWIE OWIE OWIE!!!"  
"Tell me." Wufei demanded in monotone.  
"OWIE OK! Owch..."  
Wufei released Duo and awaited his answer. Duo rubbed his shoulder and responded.  
"Well, as soon as I started rebuilding Deathscythe, I found out that you got the funds to rebuild Nataku. Everyone was still a little nervous about that last incident with you teaming up with Mariemaia, so I took things into my own hands..."  
Wufei narrowed his eyes. "How, exactly?"  
"Well, heh," Duo reluctantly continued, "I snuck over to where you were building your Gundam and hid a shut down devise in it... and installed its controls in Deathscythe."  
Wufei looked like he was going to go homicidal. However, he knew that's what Duo would expect. So he calmed down and looked at Duo's point of view, rationally. That lasted only a few seconds. He soon turned to throtle the braided idiot.   
"Don't you ever touch Nataku again!!!!"  
Wufei's angry voice was quickly inturrupted by a massive explosion down the block. People were flooding the streets running away.  
"What the hell was that?" Duo asked suddenly  
Wufei didn't respond. He began to lunge forward, but both he and Duo were pushed back by the panicing crowd. The sea seemed to overpower the two pilots in a rush. Even swearing and pushing through the crowd did anything. After getting knocked over, Duo looked up to see that he was next to a bus stop overhang. He struggled on to his feet and began to climb up ontop of the overhang. He automatically started skimming the crowd for signs of suspicious people. He saw one in perticular... not so much suspicious, but definitely familiar. The girl with the brown hair and scar on her face. The one called Zero.   
She had spotted him before he spotted her. She was unmoved in the crowd. They all seemed to scatter around her. She slowly raised her arm to eye-level. She was holding a gun. The crowd didn't seem to care that she was. Then again, it wasn't uncommon for a young lady in New York City to carry a gun.  
"Duo! What do you see?" Wufei called from down below.  
Duo didn't respond. He had to keep his full attention to the gun in Zero's hand. It meant his life. He didn't move nor panic. He waited to see what she would do. Sure enough, Zero's cheek tugged at the corner of her mouth into a smile as she pulled her fingers close to fire the gun. The bullet sounded from the pistol and charged at Duo. Duo remained unmoved. The communication between him and Zero remained to be as still as he was. Much to his surprize, the bulled whipsered right next to his ear...a centimeter of air separated Duo from death. It seemed to be the first time for Duo that death was separated from himself.  
Zero held the gun down from where she had it. Her eyes were somewhat sincere and curious at the same time. The people around her departed from the scene, leaving a lone girl on the street. This moment was cut short when Wufei rammed into Zero and tackled her into the pavement.  
"GODDAMN IT! What the HELL is YOUR problem? Honestly! Can I go anywhere without you?" Zero bitched.  
"Not as long as I know that you are the cause of that bombing just now." Wufei responded.  
Duo, now on the ground, ran over to the feuding pair.   
"Zero, why did you bomb that building over there?" Duo asked, pointing at the wreckage. Zero looked up at him from the sidewalk. Her arms were being held back by Wufei, who pinning her down the whole time.   
"The same reason I destroyed that other building with Deathscythe. They contained anti-pasifist politicians that...OW!"  
Wufei pushed higher on Zero's arms as he inturrupted her thought.  
"Try again, Onna, there are no more anti-pasifists. That ended in the last war. Its time you started reading newspapers. Then we wouldn't have to deal with punks like you."  
"Look, Jerk." Zero called above herself to Wufei, "I'm under RECENT orders to do whatever. What I do know is that there is another conflict coming and I am bound to assure peace...even if I have to do the opposite."  
Wufei and Duo didn't know what to say. From Wufei's expression, he didn't believe her story one bit. Duo, however, sympathized with her, figuring that she was just a lost, insane individual. Zero sighed.  
"Look in my back pocket." She commanded, resting a tired forehead onto the dirt.  
Wufei, sitting on her legs, held both of her arms with one hand and dug into her back pockets.  
"Hey, don't get too fresh back there." Zero joked.  
Wufei was mildy amused...even if he did look a little flushed. He found a few photographs and a piece of paper. He handed them to Duo.  
"I don't believe this...you won't believe this!"  
"What is it?" Wufei asked, looking over at the papers, keeping his senses on Zero.  
Wufei looked at the photos. They were pictures of mobile suit manufaturing bases. The pictures were dated...a week ago. At first, Wufei still didn't believe her. Then Duo started talking again.  
"This document..." Duo held the sheet of paper nervously, "it confirms the sign of an organisation building. Someone with great financial power is now putting their funds into mobile suit production..."  
Wufei looked down at the girl. She was a soldier just like the rest of them. However, for some reason she didn't make an appearance during the earlier wars...  
"Why didn't you involve yourself in the earlier wars?" He asked, feeling her pulse incase it changed to the answer of the question. She wasn't in the best physical shape, so it would probably be hard for someone like her to keep her pulse steady.   
"I was... but because they didn't want me in enemy hands, I had to remain perfectly hidden. For example, when Quatre supposedly killed Trowa, I went into space to pick him up and get him to medical help...and dropped him off with his sister, without being seen, of course. Then there was the time when you two were captured and I snuck food into your cell..."  
"Hey, I don't remember that!" Wufei snatched....then looked at Duo...  
Duo took a few steps back as if he had horns and a tail...   
"It doesn't matter," Wufei grunted, "You're destroying peace with your meathods. You should be killed!"  
"Go ahead." Zero snapped, "Go ahead if it serves your justice. However, I have possession of all five Gundams. If you destroy me, then I garentee someone much worse will come along, and I don't thing that they will spare your lives like I have."  
Wufei didn't know what to think, so he just got off of Zero. Zero bitched to herself as she stretched to get up. Then further commented on how heavy Wufei was for such a scrawny guy. Duo helped dust the dirt off of her clothes. He laughed with her while doing so. Wufei rolled his eyes. Duo was flirting with a fellow American... how predictable.  
They began to walk back to the hotel.  
"So, who is the mysterious organization, anyway?" Duo asked in curiousity.   
"They call themselves the Blood Hounds. Their leaded by a guy named...Diaz..." Zero responded.  
Wufei looked at the woman. It was interesting how she said "Diaz". It sounded like how he would pronounciate the word "Treize". She really was just like himself or the other pilots. However, her appearance was astoundingly similar to Duo's. As they walked and talked all the way back to the hotel, he noticed a lot of similarities... like the same exact hair color, tone of voice, build (if Duo was a girl), and other little things. However, her bangs were longer and curved around her face, maybe a little longer... And worst of all, did she dress like a bum! Duo had his usual black ensamble, but Zero was dressed in blue jeans, platform shoes, a blue tank top and a matching plad shirt. One would think that a woman of such free will would dress more of her age, Wufei thought.  
  
"So that's it." Heero commented as he listened to Duo's explanation of why Zero was terrorizing the city. They surrounded her outside of the hotel asking questions. She tried to answer them all fully, but she was getting tired, fast. Zero finally concluded her situation with her mission statement:  
"My real reason for coming here isn't for assassination. I've come to recruit you all to pilot your Gundams again. They are on Colonly L1 right now..."  
"No." Heero inturrupted, "If we put away the weapons and soldiers, there won't be reasons for war."  
"Oh please! Then people will be throwing stones at each other! If people want to fight, then they will fight until they die!"  
"Zero, are you sure that you're really willing to fight in this?" Quatre asked in an innocent tone.  
"I do what I have to." She blankly replied, like a soldier.  
"You enjoy it, don't you?" Heero examined, "The killing?" His eyes glared at her.  
"I don't have to explain my motives to you." Zero looked away from his glare.  
"Calling you a woman is an insult." Wufei commented, "You're not even human."  
Zero shut her eyes and took the insult in. She expected this much respect from the pilots. She was a dangerous weapon capable of starting a war that they didn't want. They all could kill her in an instant if she didn't have the Gundams. I guess they are saviors, afterall, she realized. She also knew that she would have to sink to Wufei's level to get her point across to the ex-pilots.  
"True, my hands are as blood stained as the rest of you. However, I didn't need a Gundam to get my missions complete. And you call yourself a man, hiding behind a machine?"  
Wufei fumed. He narrowed his eyes right into her face. Trowa had to put an arm infront of him to keep Wufei from killing her. He backed up when he realized that he was, over reacting.  
"At least I, unlike you, Onna, have the ability to control myself to stop. I have learned how pointless bloodshed is!"  
Zero looked back at him, feeling threatened. She snapped back,  
"And I haven't? Like I told all of you, I have reasons to fight, but they don't consern any of you!"  
Stupid woman doesn't know what she's talking about. War is much more than deep phillosophy. Wufei wanted to smack the girl. However, there was no telling how she would react...or everyone else for that matter. He wondered if anyone of the others wanted to smack him. It wasn't worth finding out.  
"I've had it for the night." He announced, "I'm going back to my hotel down the block. If you need me, I'm there."  
Wufei spun around and started walking down the street.  
"SO!" Zero cheerfully focused her attention back to the guys. "Who's room do I get to stay in?"  
They looked at each other clueless.  



	3. Black Night

Zero Conclusions  
A Gundam Wing Story  
Part three "Black Night"  
  
Fanfiction by Heather Ann the Kachan  
  
  
  
Fear struck over Heero as he looked over at Zero. None of them wanted to just leave Zero alone. That would allow her to storm around city doing god-knows-what! However, she had to stay somewhere for the night. Damn. Too bad Wufei left, otherwise, we could have just stuck her with him, Heero thought.  
He examined each pilot. Zero and Quatre were catching up with each other. That is, after Zero hugged him and Quatre went blank for ten minutes. It might be a bad idea to leave her with him. Then next to him was Duo. Duo appeared to have a new playmate. A playmate with breasts. It might be a bad idea to leave her with him too. Then there was Trowa. Trowa was reliable and had a sister! Bingo…  
"Heero," Trowa whipered over at Heero before Heero could say what he wanted to, "I'm a heavy sleeper…and I don't trust how Quatre and Duo are acting. Why don't you watch Zero for the night?"  
Heero wanted to kill Zero right then. Either that or self-destruct. Then again, it couldn't be too bad. She was much physically weaker than anyone. It couldn't POSSIBLY be difficult to watch her, right? He continued following the converation between the others.  
"I'm really impressed with how you just stood up to Wufei." Duo complimented.  
"Yes." Trowa added, "You managed to pull the lion's teeth without getting bit."  
"Its nothing." She bluched  
Quatre couldn't say much more. He was still stunned after Zero had put an arm around him five minutes ago. Zero yawned.  
"Perhaps we should call it a night." Trowa suggested.  
"Good idea." Zero turned to Heero, as if to size him up, "Looks like its just you an'me!"  
"You don't stay conserned about much for long, do you?" Heero observed.  
Zero didn't reply, she just chuckled and walked inside the hotel…what an interesting night this'll be…  
  
Trowa tossed in turned in his bed. He didn't like the fact that he knew he would have to fight again. Bearing thought of more battles, he found himself unable to sleep. The fighting that brought him to months without a sign of who he was. His thoughts were inturrupted by a sudden bang in the other room. Trowa had roomed with Duo and Quatre, while Heero, just next door, baby sat Zero. That sudden noise brought Quatre and Duo to their feet like children and put an ear to the door that connected the two rooms.  
"Did ya hear that?" Duo whipsered, still listening.  
"Go back to sleep." Trowa ordered from his bed, turning over, "Heero is with her. If there is a problem, I'm sure he can take care of it…"  
Quatre backed up from the door, trying to be reasonable.   
"Yes, but do you think Heero would try anything, er, I mean…"  
"Don't worry about it!" Duo cheered, "Heero likes war-machines as much as Wufei likes women. He wouldn't touch her unless his life depended on it."  
That worried Quatre more.  
"Still, I'm going to check up on them…just to be safe."  
Duo stepped away from the door so that Quatre could open it. Quatre walked into the other room cautiously. He was stunned at what he saw. Heero was flat out on the bed unconcious. His arm was hand-cuffed to a very bent bed post. Quatre and Duo with wide eyes ran over to Heero. Duo smacked Heero in the face to wake him up.  
"Wake up, Heero buddy! What happened! Where the hell is Zero?"  
"Is she captured? Injured?" Quatre asked nervously.  
Heero looked up at them trying to focus. He could barely make out what they were saying, but he got the message. They wanted to know what happened. So he had to think of something to say.  
"…she…leaving…gagged me with…"  
Heero wasn't sending a full message, but Quatre, finding the bottle of rubbing alchohol on the floor, put the puzzle together.  
"She's gagged him with rubbing alchohol."  
"Where is she now?" Duo shook Heero like he was some sort of magic 8-ball.   
Instead of getting an answer, Heero slumped to unconciousness. The pilots looked at each other in deep concern. Oh shit.  
"What do we do now?" Duo asked ambitiously.  
"We split up and hunt Zero down," Trowa suggested, "We can't allow her to run off like this."  
"You're right. But where would she go?" Quatre asked,  
"Where would any psychotic juvenile delinquence go?" Trowa wondered.  
  
So there they were, all grouped around the city club. Heero, Trowa, and Quatre all looked at Duo funny.  
"You think she's HERE?" Heero raised an eyebrow, knowing Duo's ulterior motive.   
"Hey, if I were on a rampage, THIS is where I would go." Duo smiled, showing off a bit. The others sweatdropped to his amusement.  
"Heero, are you sure you want to go searching with us?" Quatre asked him.  
"I'm fine. Besides, I want to chase the girl down as payback." Heero told him.  
"Okay, Duo, you check out the scene while the rest of us search the air and space ports. She's bound to show up somewhere." Trowa commanded. "If we don't find her by morning, then we should contact Wufei. He has a way of running into her."  
"Shouldn't we contact him now?" Duo asked slightly confused.  
"Do you want to listen to him rant about women and injustices this late?" Heero rhetorically stated. Duo didn't comment any further. He just strutted his way into the club while the others split up in three other directions.  
Please be safe, Zero. Quatre begged to himself as he headed towards the local space port. Please don't get yourself killed before I can reach you.  
  
Duo pushed himself through the crowd. The girls seemed to be all over him…Oh, this is sooo great, he thought to himself, NO! Wake up, Duo. You have a mission. You can't botch it now! Now, where is Zero?  
He skimmed the dance floor with his eyes. He found her. She was well blended in with the crowd. Very not-Zero. She seemed normal almost. She must have some sort of split personality. Zero was flowing to the rhythm, dancing with a guy until he got too close. Then she shoved him hard enough to take a couple steps back. He then looked at her oddly and walked away. Duo ran up to her to talk to her.  
"Ah, Duo-chan. What are you doing here?" She asked, looking completely clueless.  
"Well…for one, I have to save you from Heero who is hunting you down pissed." Duo answered looking at her careless face.  
"Don't you think I can take care of myself?"  
"Yes," Duo patiently continued, "But the others are looking for you too and we'd really appreciate it if you would stay with us for the night. Now come on. If you get past me, then you know they'll just find you and beet you up harder tomarrow. Don't make me feel like the bad guy."  
Zero smiled. She seemed okay with the situation. But then, her calm face developed batting eyes, her bangs in her face… a successful attempt to bring Duo to his knees.  
"Okay, but just one more dance… you can have a drink in the meantime!" She sort of begged. Duo fell for it.  
"I don't see what's wrong with that request." Afterall, nothing can go wrong as long as I keep both eyes on you. "Just one drink…"  
  
THREE HOURS LATER:  
Duo was smashed. One drink lead to another. Zero payed little attention. She was having fun blowing time, and she'll be damned if she ruined Duo's fun. Duo sat there with his flock of chicks while Zero was rockin' it out on the dance floor.  
It was then when Zero felt something. Her mind flashed before her eyes as the Zero technology suddenly activated. The cold nothingness pulling at her wrists. Nothing was there, and she knew that she was hallucinating it. However, this feeling was a warning. They must be here…She screamed in her mind. Her eyes examined the crowd. A few suspicious looking people. Better get out of here…  
"Hey, Duo?" She pushed through the crowd of females, flocking them away. Duo looked up, but all he could see was a blurred figure.  
"Duo," Zero spoke to him, "We have to leave…NOW."  
"*urp* one more dance, er, drink…." Duo moved his weary head to focus his eyes.  
"You, a Gundam pilot, got drunk?! On a mission?!" Zero asked astound.  
"Its nothing, babe." Duo put an arm around her waist, "I'm not wasted enough to make out! If you know what I mean."  
Zero rolled her eyes at the idiot. She moved the hand from her waist and put it over her shoulders.  
"Damn, this sucks." She whined.  
She skimmed the crowd again. Seven. Seven that notice me, anyway. She menally counted the number of stalkers. She tried to help the limping Duo to the door. Unfortunately, Duo was slowly falling to unconiousness. His weight got heavier and heavier. Soon, she wouldn't be able to carry him. She couldn't just leave him there. Surely, the enemy would find him and kill him. Not to meantion the others would never forgive her for leaving the idiot behind.  
Soon, Zero was carrying Duo's full weight. She stopped right in front of a man, dressed all in black and wearing sunglasses. His hair was platunum blonde, spiked up. He looked down upon Zero and Duo, not yet showing a weapon.  
"Lemmie guess," Zero sarcassed, "You're that dude from the movie Blade…"  
"So we meet again, Zero." He spoke in a humored voice, "I knew I would find you again."  
Zero didn't respond. She dropped Duo on the floor and put her arms up in defeat. Slyly, she gave them an evil smile and shouted,  
"HELP ME! THIS MAN IS TRYING TO RAPE ME!"  
The man infront of her turned as pale as a vampire. He covered her mouth and ran towards a wall. Two of his henchmen grabbed Duo and followed. Zero struggled with the man's strength as he dragged her towards the wall. He then threw a grenade at the wall. At the same time, Zero sunk her teeth into the man's hand. The grenade hit the wall and exploded on impact, filling the room with dust.  
  
Trowa was silent when he drove his car back to the club to check on Duo. He seemed quiet, but his thoughts weren't. He didn't have any luck at the subway station, trying to find Zero. Of course she wouldn't go there. That's far too obvious. Where would she go? She wasn't going to fool around too badly with us. Maybe she wouldn't leave right away. Maybe she is trying to wait us out for a day or two before leaving the city. The club would be the perfect place for that. Duo should have no problem trying to find her there…  
Trowa paused all thinking as he screetched to a hault outside of the club. He saw the side wall collapse as figures dragged Zero and Duo out of the building. Zero was doing everything she could to get away. That is, until they put a gun to her head. Duo appeared to be unconcious. I hope he didn't do anything stupid to get himself hurt. Trowa watched as they all loaded into the van. The van then sped out into the street. Trowa followed in persuit instantly. He followed them to the spaceport. Quatre saw Trowa's car and ran after it.  
The van pulled into an awaiting shuttle. Then the shuttle, with van and all, took off into outerspace. Trowa stopped the car. He calmly walked out and looked at the speeding Quatre. When Quatre caught up, he was too out of breath to ask questions. Trowa answered him, anyway.  
"Zero and Duo were in there. Its too late. They're gone."  
Quatre smiled and gasped what he REALLY had to say.  
"Not…Quite…" He paused until he could make full sentences. "I saw that shuttle earlier and thought it looked suspicious. So I put a tracking device in it secretly. We should be able to find them in no time."  
"Great." Trowa stated, "Let's find the others and tell them what we've found."  
  
"DAAAAMMMMNNN!!!!" Duo moaned when he woke up several hours later. The shuttle had already landed and placed Duo and Zero in their own prison cell. It was worse than Duo imagined: confinement and a hang over. "Why is it always me that gets locked up? Why never Quatre? Or Trowa?…"  
"Shut up…" Zero muttered from the opposite dark corner of the room. He thought it was Zero. The voice matched up, but it was too dark to tell for certain, "If you stopped drinking when we had to leave, we wouldn't be in this mess."  
"Hey!" Duo argued playfully, "You're the one who snuck out! I had to take time off of my precious beauty sleep to come after you!"  
"Yea, but it was you and your friends that stuck me in the same room as Heero! Do you blame me for running?"   
That comment made both of them chuckle. Zero's side of the laughter was short. But Duo did hear her struggling. He tried to get on his feet, but almost fell over. He was still a little tipsy and off balance from the previous night. Not to meantion the arm-cuffs weren't helping. He leaned his back against the wall and slowly slid down to a sitting position next to Zero to see what the hell she was doing.  
Zero was fussing to get those arm-cuffs off. She shoved up and down, cutting into her arms and hands. Pushing and thrusting, tears went streaming down her face in pain. A few of the dropps followed the length of the scar that she had gotten on the day that Zero had met Duo and the others. Soon, her hand vanished out of eyesight and appeared again, free of that cuff. Once the first one was off, the second was no problem.  
"I have been stuck in so many cells and I have yet to have figure that out. How the hell did you do it?" Duo asked in amazement.  
"heh. I have double jointed thumbs and thin wrists. You can't do it on your own." She explained. "Here, let me help you. It will hurt for a moment."  
She dislocated Duo's thumb out of place as she held the cuffs for him to pull his arm out. It worked. The second one went just as quickly. Both prisoners rubbed their arms in relaxation as they sat in silence.  
"Hey!" Duo cheered, "Don't look so depressing! The others will come for us sooner or later. Don't worry about it."  
"The Blood Hounds." Zero stated, "They caputred us. They're the ones who are starting all of this commotion again. I've done more than enough to piss these guys off."  
"So why do they want us."  
"ME." She corrected, "They want me for my Zero technology. They brought you along so I could comply better, I guess."  
"Comply?"  
"For expiriments. To copy what was done to me. The doctors ended the ZERO project for a purpose. That was so that there weren't any more neurotic people like myself running around." Zero explained.  
Zero quivered for a moment. She flashes back to a point in her life, where she was very small. She was alone with a little boy. The little boy ran to her and she held up a gun, telling him to back up. He didn't listen. She pulled the trigger. She awakened from her own memory by Duo's touch on the shoulder.  
"If you think it'll be alright, then it'll be alright  
Your chance will come,  
Its surely OK!" He half sang. The song sounded made up, but who could tell with Duo?  
"Glad one of us is confident." Zero muttered.  
"Don't you have faith? Hope?" Duo looked at her a little stunned.  
"Who do I believe in? God? HA! Such a thing doesn't exsist to me." Zero stopped herself when she noticed Duo's garb. "Sorry."  
"None needed," Duo explained, "I only believe in Shinigami. I also believe in my friends and past family.They are always there when I need them most…"  
Duo leaned back against the wall shutting his eyes. Thinking of his loved ones always cheered him up. Zero sighed next to him. So many times she tried to trust people. So many times she couldn't bring herself to do it. She wasn't about to trust Duo. He was too gullable, naïve…and cute!   
"Hey," Duo muttered reaching into his shirt, "Take this."  
He pulled out an old cross attached to a chain that roped around his neck.. Very antique in its design. He graciously placed it around Zero's neck. She tried to refuse, but it went unheard. Duo wanted her to have it.  
"If you don't have faith in anyone, then have faith in this."  
"I hope I understand what you mean someday." Zero laughed, looking at the priceless object.  
Duo smiled in response. However, the calm moment didn't last. The cell door opened to see a sillouette of a soldier standing in view.  
"Zero, the boss wants to see you…NOW!"  



End file.
